Patriots to see familiar faces in playoffs

Monday

Been there, done that. Pardon the New England Patriots if they have that feeling as they move closer to postseason play.

Been there, done that.

Pardon the New England Patriots if they have that feeling as they move closer to postseason play.

En route to the historic 16-0 regular season they concluded with Saturday night’s 38-35 win over the New York Giants, the Patriots have already defeated three of the other five teams in the AFC postseason field. In Indianapolis, San Diego and Pittsburgh, the top-seeded Patriots have beaten the second-, third- and fourth-seeded teams in the conference.

The Patriots closed their 2006 regular season with back-to-back road wins over this year’s fifth seed, the Jacksonville Jaguars (24-21), and this year’s sixth seed, the Tennessee Titans (40-23). For what it’s worth, they also played Tennessee in the 2007 preseason, dropping a 27-24 decision to the Titans at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 17.

On the immediate horizon, the Steelers, Jaguars and Titans loom as potential opponents for the Pats when they return from this coming weekend’s bye to play host to a divisional playoff game Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. at Gillette.

If the two higher seeds – San Diego and Pittsburgh – take care of business against the Titans and Jaguars, respectively, on their home fields on wildcard weekend, the Patriots would play host to the Steelers on the 12th.

The Chargers traveled to Tennessee and defeated the Titans, 23-17, in overtime on Dec. 9. The Steelers lost in the snow at home to the Jaguars one week later, 29-22.

“We played San Diego a long time ago. The Colts game was in the middle of the season as well. So we know those two teams, and Pittsburgh was the most recent of (those) games,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. “So we have some familiarity with those teams, but some of those games showed up quite a while back, so we’ll wait and see how things shake out … and then take a look at what potentially could be our next game and we’ll go from there.

“Of course we won’t know for sure until after (the upcoming) weekend’s games,” Belichick said in speaking of the Patriots’ potential opponent, “but there are things that we can work on that we’re doing that could stand for some improvement and then we’ll also turn our attention to some of those potential opponents.”

Here is a look back at the head-to-head meetings the Patriots had during the course of the 2007 regular season with their postseason counterparts in the AFC:

Patriots 38, Chargers 14 (Sept. 16)

With the charges of “Spygate,” the opening day video scandal in the Meadowlands, casting an air of suspicion over the team, the Patriots took the field for their regular-season home opener in a prime-time Sunday night telecast with a real sense of purpose.

The result was a jolt to the Bolts, who found themselves 24 points down before they finally got on the scoreboard past the midpoint of the third quarter.

With 1,418 yards, LaDainian Tomlinson wound up running away with his second straight NFL rushing title, but only 43 of them came at the expense of the Patriots, who limited him to 2.4 yards per carry.

Philip Rivers served up a couple of interceptions, one leading to a 65-yard return for a touchdown by linebacker Adalius Thomas in the second quarter.

Patriots 24, Colts 20 (Nov. 4)

Super Bowl XLI-1/2 lived up to its hype as the Patriots exacted some measure of revenge inside the RCA Dome against an Indy team that had rallied from an 18-point deficit to defeat them, 38-34, in the 2006 AFC Championship Game.

After eight straight victories by 17 points or more, the Patriots found themselves challenged for the first time all season, requiring them to rally for two TDs late in the game to erase a 20-10 deficit.

A 55-yard bomb to Moss (nine receptions for 145 yards and one touchdown) led to a 3-yard TD toss to Welker with 7:59 left, then Brady hooked up with Kevin Faulk coming out of the backfield for the 13-yard game-winning score with 3:15 to play.

Joseph Addai gouged the Patriots’ defense for 226 yards from scrimmage, 112 on the ground and 114 through the air, 73 coming when he took a dump-off screen pass from Peyton Manning the distance for a score with 13 seconds to go in the first half.

Patriots 34, Steelers 13 (Dec. 9)

With offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels reaching deep into his bag of tricks, the Patriots blew a 17-13 halftime game wide open as Brady and Moss exchanged cross-field laterals before the quarterback reared back and heaved a 56-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Jabar Gaffney in the end zone.

Gaffney’s third-quarter TD came at the expense of one Anthony Smith, the outspoken Steelers’ free safety who had guaranteed a Pittsburgh victory at Gillette in the days leading up to the game.

Only an end-zone drop by Moss late in the game prevented Brady from surpassing 400 yards through the air. As it was, he connected on 32 of 46 throws for 399 yards and four TDs with no interceptions.

Steelers running back Willie Parker carried 21 times for 124 yards against the Patriots, but he has since been placed on IR with a broken right leg and the lead ball-carrying role in Pittsburgh now belongs to Najeh Davenport.